Issue - meetings

The item was withdrawn from the agenda because there were no recommendations that came from the Overview & Scrutiny Panel regarding the budget proposals.

It was therefore no longer necessary to re-consider the item because Cabinet recommendations to Council made on 16 January 2018 remained unchanged.

Councillor Townend gave the opening remarks to the agenda item and made the following comments:

• The proposals in the draft budget report for 2018/19 were initially agreed for recommending to Council at Cabinet on 16 January;
• Members briefing sessions on the draft budget proposals were held;
• Cabinet had identified £300,000 savings in the proposals;
• It was worth noting that council tax for a Band D property was increased by £6.57 per year to £226.44;
• The budget proposals were being considered in a macro economic environment marked by significant uncertainties that included the still to be decided local government funding settlement and the fair funding review;

Tim Willis, Director of Corporate Resources then advised the meeting of a correction to Table 5 in para 4.13 as follows:

  Total for 2019/20 should be £586,000 and not £712,000;

  Total for 2020/21 should be £101,000 and not £338,000.

Members of the Panel then made comments and asked questions about the proposals in the budget report as follows:

• What percentage of the council resources in the budget was to be spent on street cleansing in Cliftonville?
• Was this allocation not having a detrimental effect on street cleaning work in other areas of the district?
• Business rates retention scheme – Would the council be better or worse off if it did not take part in the pilot scheme?
• Will there be a proportionate formula to the allocation of benefits to be derived from the pilot: - do the less affluent areas get more?
• Will TDC be able to scrutinise the scheme?
• Would Members be able to look at the scheme to ascertain whether Thanet would be as better off as the other Councils participating in the scheme?
• Is the extra revenue to be generated from the pilot going to be ring fenced or allocated to the general fund? If it is to be ring fenced, what would be the percentage allocated to economic growth?
• Business incentives – What Business incentives are offered to investors to attract inward investment into the district?
• Why was it the case that the extra income to be derived from council tax was only due to be allocated amongst the major preceptors and not to all other preceptors? Council tax discount from government used to be passed on to Parish Councils, but this had now been stopped. The Parish/Town Councils were now worse off. Therefore in future TDC should consider including minor preceptors;
• Could officers provide more information on business incentives;
• If Town/Parish councils could show evidence that as a result of some of the actions they had taken to attract investment (including additional street cleansing work), could they be allocated some of the revenue from the pilot scheme?

Tim Willis and Tim Howes (Director of Corporate Governance) gave the following responses to Member comments and questions:

• The issue regarding street cleansing was not directly related to the draft budget report before the Panel;
• Business rates retention pilot scheme – There was a ‘no detriment’ clause in the pilot agreement;
• Council will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 151

Cabinet considered the budget proposals for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, Capital budgets and Treasury Management Strategy for the financial year 2018-19.

The Council would continue to face significant cuts in Government funding over the next few years and with substantial savings already having been made in recent years, it was becoming increasingly difficult to identify further savings without impacting on services. The budget proposals presented a number of income generating proposals and efficiency savings, which the Cabinet to propose a balanced budget for 2018-19, whilst minimising the impact on services.

Members noted that the funding pressures were substantial in respect of 2018-19. Government funding had been reduced, primarily in respect of Revenue Support Grant; which had been reduced by over £600,000 compared to 2017-18 financial year. The New Homes Bonus had been reduced by over £800,000 and additional £1 million has also been set aside for the costs arising from homelessness. After adding in inflationary pressures and other adjustments, it was forecasted that there would a gross budget gap of £2.8 million.

To address the budget gap, Council had already approved increases to fees and charges which would generate an additional £390,000. Further income generation plans, set out in paragraph 7.5 of the Cabinet report, were in train for food hygiene, trade waste, the port and foreshores. Efficiencies would also be delivered, notably through corporate restructuring, East Kent Services outsourcing and a renegotiation of the Your Leisure contract.

Last year, Council approved a one-off drawdown of reserves of £450,000 as a result of a late change in government funding. It was therefore worth noting that the 2018-19 budget proposals included the permanent funding of this £450,000 loss. Additionally, the Medium Term Financial Strategy allows for a £150,000 per annum repayment to reserves, over a three year period starting in 2018-19.

Cabinet noted that the discussions regarding the budget proposals were against a background of ever substantial uncertainties over the next four years. There were those macro-economic uncertainties that all organisations in the country faced, with particular reference to interest rates, inflation and Brexit. In addition, the government was still to decide on the regime for local government finance.Government was still consulting on the details of business rates retention and Fair Funding Review.

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

Councillor Campbell;

Councillor Gregory;

Councillor Game.

Councillor Townend proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Cabinet agreed the following recommendations to Council on 08 February 2018:

1.  That the Medium Term Financial Strategy at Annex 1 is approved;

General Fund

2.  That the General Fund revenue budget estimates for 2018-19 are approved;

3.  That following on from the decision made by Ramsgate Town Council not to continue with the subsidy for free Saturday parking at the Royal Harbour car park, as outlined in section 4.2 and 4.3, the Council agree to charge for parking on Saturday at the Royal Harbour car park and free Saturday parking will revert to Cannon Road car park from 1 April 2018 as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 485